Front Cover: Sol‐Gel Synthesis of Mesoporous Silica Using a Protein Crystal Template (ChemNanoMat 4/2022)

Porous silica is a high-performance material with various synthetic production methods available. However, control over the porous structure is difficult in terms of both pore size and spatial orientation. Here, apoferritin single crystals are used as a template to prepare oriented and ordered mesoporous silica structures. Condensation of pre-hydrolyzed silica precursors takes place within the crystal voids, transferring the hierarchical structure to the silica. A porous framework is created after protein removal by calcination, which provides high control over the spatial orientation of the structure and size of individual pores. More information can be found in the Research Article by Mauri A. Kostiainen et al.